Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Canberra's population is set to nearly double within 40 years — but one developer wants it to grow even larger
Craig Allen ABC (No paywall)Canberra's population is on track to increase from 432,000 to 700,000 people within 40 years. But experts are divided about whether that is a good or bad thing for the growing national capital. The ACT government is expected to soon release the newest population projections to the year 2061, based on research from the ANU School of Demography.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-22/act-population-set-to-dou…
# Australia, Planning and development.Destructive drywood termites attacking Queensland homes, but a government fumigation program is axed
Jennifer Nichols ABC (No paywall)The Queensland government is being accused of abandoning residents whose homes are being eaten by the world's most destructive drywood termite. ... Since the 1960s, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has paid for any outbreaks of the foreign invader to be treated, by tenting entire houses and fumigating them. But in January, it quietly ended the free fumigation program and hasn't confirmed if people on a waiting list before it expired, would be helped.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-22/west-indian-drywood-termi…
# Australia, Repairs, Housing market, State Government.Tenant’s Union of NSW calls for extension of eviction moratorium and stronger rental protections
Kate Burke and Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)A ban on the eviction of renters in NSW needs to be extended and strengthened in light of the state’s lockdown, with greater protections needed for those affected by the pandemic, the Tenant’s Union of New South Wales has said. A two-month eviction moratorium announced last month should be extended until next year, it said, and strengthened to stop COVID-affected tenants from being forced to leave their homes under “no grounds” evictions. The measures were among a string of recommendations the union sent to NSW Better Regulation and Innovation minister Kevin Anderson in the wake of the state’s growing COVID-19 cases. “The end of the moratorium is a few weeks away, and with record-high cases [on Wednesday] it’s very clear the lockdown isn’t going to end by then,” said chief executive Leo Patterson Ross.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-union-of-nsw-calls-for-ex…
# Must read, Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions, State Government.Increased rent relief support payments, but NSW Eviction Moratorium must be extended
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Yesterday the NSW Government announced they are increasing the rent relief support available up to $3000 for landlords who reduce (waive) rent by this amount for impacted tenants. We welcome and would like to thank Minister Anderson for extending rent relief support. ... However, the financial assistance provided through the Residential Tenancy Support Payment is only one element of the protections required to ensure tenants are not evicted during lockdown.
https://www.tenants.org.au/tu/news/increased-rent-relief-support…
# NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions, State Government.The life-or-death consequences of pandemic evictions
Sarah Kleiner (No paywall)From the United States ... More people died from the COVID-19 virus in places where protection against eviction either didn’t exist or lapsed in 2020, according to new research. Seven experts from five universities cross-referenced coronavirus cases and deaths with data about where eviction moratoriums existed between March 13 and Sept. 3 of last year. (Watchdog Newsletter)
https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/watchdog-…
# Research alert International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Health.Nearly half of American workers don’t earn enough to afford a one-bedroom rental
Andrew Witherspoon and Alvin Chang The Guardian (No paywall)Nearly half of American workers do not earn enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment, according to new data. Rents in the US continued to increase through the pandemic, and a worker now needs to earn about $20.40 an hour to afford a modest one-bedroom rental. The median wage in the US is about $21 an hour. The data, from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, shows that millions of Americans – from Amazon warehouse workers to cab drivers to public school teachers – are struggling to pay rent. For the poorest Americans, market-rate housing is out of reach in virtually all of the country. About 14% of Americans fell behind on rent payments during the pandemic – roughly double the figure before the pandemic. A federal moratorium on evictions has kept renters from being kicked out of their homes, but the moratorium lapsed last month, only to be extended into early October for those in regions hardest hit by the pandemic.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/12/housing-renter-a…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market.Financial support for NSW tenants and landlords extended amid lockdown
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Sydney landlords who drop rents for tenants hard hit by the pandemic will be able to access up to another $1500 in financial support amid the city’s ongoing lockdown. Landlords who negotiate a rent discount with impacted tenants – those who have lost at least 25 per cent of their income in lockdown – will be able to access up to a total of $3000 in financial support, or a reduction on their land tax, with the state government’s Residential Tenancy Support package extended for another month. Tenants are also still protected by a 60-day eviction moratorium until September 11, which was announced with the initial $1500 support payment last month. The extension of the support package comes after Sydney entered its eighth week in lockdown and during the first week of a state-wide lockdown for NSW. ... Tenants’ Union of New South Wales chief executive Leo Patterson Ross welcomed the extension of the financial support, saying it was critical as lockdown continued. ... [He said] 'The only weakness with the payments was that the landlords weren’t necessarily obliged to apply for it even if they had an eligible tenant. There had also been a few isolated incidents of landlords trying to get out of passing on the full reduction claimed to tenants.' He also expressed concern that evictions not related to rental arrears in lockdown were still going ahead and stressed an extension of the eviction moratorium and further support could be needed as lockdown continued.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/financial-support-for-nsw-tenants…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.COVID-19: Tenancy support for Victorian tenants
(No paywall)COVID-19 restrictions are in force once again for Victoria and are in place until Thursday, 2 September. If you rent in VIC, here’s where to get tenancy support. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.